By any other name...

Hobo, the escort

Um, very preggers

I believe she was in labor at this point

Hobo playing nursemaid to the kittens

Today

Really, it's not fair to call Mama Mia with a 'mama' name anymore.  Once Hobo escorted her to our yard, then she had the kittens, she has not been a mother since we TNR'd her in 2009.  But I guess old habits die hard, because I cannot seem to call her any other name but Mama or Mamacita or Mommy Girl or Momsies.  I've tried Cleo, Mimi, Nefertiti, Sweetie, and a host of other names, but Mama just keeps rolling off my tongue.  She has always been the most feral of the 'o' cats; I can pet her now but for very short bits of time, and she'll run off at any quick movements or noises.  Hearing her purr is a sweet sound, since it happens rarely, and Patty O. must be somewhere else since he MUST get in between me and any other cat.

Patty Photobomb

Thief

This little missy steals food from Mama Mia and Patty O' daily!  She belongs to our neighbor's, and they let her out to roam.  She ends up in our yard, and she watches when I put out food for the 'o' cats.  If they don't eat it all, or if they take too long, she'll walk right up and growl until they back away from the bowls.  She's also chased Chuck a few times in the yard, and she growls when I get near.  I try to be nice, but she hisses and growls, and then steals the food!  Therefore, when I see her hangin' around, I chase her off.  I hate doing it, because I'm a lover, not a fighter.  But she always comes back.  Persistent little minx!

The Cat Who Smells Like Laundry

Chucky as a basket kitten

A rare togetherness image

Warm jeans warm Angel's bottom

Chuck, on basket lookout 

I vant to be alone!

Chuck loves the laundry baskets.  When younger, both Chuck and Angel hung out there, but now it's predominately Chuck who finds either a clean clothes basket or a used one.  He sleeps in them!  Either way, his fur retains the perfume of the laundry soap.  We can find the most fabulous cat beds on the planet, and the cats will simply sleep on our stinky socks or smelly, sweaty t-shirts.  Thankfully, only the soap* smell clings!

*Chuck has also been known to get a good rubbin' when his humans have been working in the kitchen, therefore sometimes he smells like dinner!  Or freshly-ground coffee...

Growin' fresh cats

Growing fresh cats in the garden urn

Discovered Patty O'Malley had potted himself in the garden urn.  Looks like I'm growing cats in my yard!  The tree house in the background was designed as a ship prow, for my neighbor's son.  Ahem...the outside cats now use it as a napping spot sometimes...

Pile 'o kittens!

Here's a photo taken last Saturday, while I visited with Paws for the Cause Feral Cat Rescue at their weekly adoption event.  Squee kittens!  That's a whole pile of them too, and each one just as cute and cuddly as the last.  Hard to walk away without putting one or two in my pockets and bringin' 'em on home!

Cat socks

On another note, these are my lucky orange cat socks.  Well, yeah, there are other colors of cats there, but the orange one's are like real life, while the others are just play (green or blue?)  I wear these to send healing orange cat vibes to my friends Amber and Sugarbear, who are holding their own right now in sunny FLA.  These cats have fantastic peeps who dote on them, aiding them to live their furry lives with as much normalcy and dignity as possible.  I could write a whole book on how deeply my friends love kitties, but for now they are concentrating on their cat crew of four, with two who need extra, EXTRA hugs and purrs.  May the power of my orange cat socks help add healing power to their ministrations!

Halp!

The Chucky monster is gonna eat me!

I'd better pop that cat food can right quick...

Thanks all for the kind words about Sammy.

Hard to believe it's been a week.  

Sammy's gone

Sammy was too sick.  The very nice veterinarian said that removing his remaining teeth would not help him.  I was stunned.  I was able to hold him, pet his fur for a long time, and tell him how much I loved him.  The vet even cried with me.

This video was the very first images I took of Sammy, in February 2010.  Look how robust and fluffy he was!  A cat of the world; afraid of nothing.  I'll always remember his crooked tail, and his signature meow that sounded like 'arf'.  We were honored to have met his acquaintance, and I'll sprinkle his ashes under his favorite hosta plants.

Thanks all for your wishes for Sammy.  

Rest in peace, my handsome boy.

Got him!

The trap fell around Sammy this afternoon, surprisingly.  I watched and waited, and saw my chance; I actually pulled the stick by hand instead of yanking the string.  He'll spend tonight in the garage (newspapers under, blanket over) and we head to the animal hospital at 8:00 am.

I promise to post the results just as soon as I can!  Thanks for all the good wishes, now send lots of purrs to Sammy for a quick recovery.

Sammy a year ago

Bling

Silvery bling

I picked up new collars for Angel and Chuck; the old ones were kinda scruffy.  I also bought new tags, but I haven't yet attached them because I have to nail them on.  

No more clink, clank as their tags knock against the food bowls.  

Bwa-ha-ha!

You can see that Sammy isn't afraid of the 'trap' right now, but I couldn't pull the stick because of the extra one holding up the other end.  I've now moved both sticks toward the center, and will remove the extra one when no kitty is around to witness.  Then, when Sammy gets all of the way underneath...keep your fingers crossed!

The Sammy Expedition has begun!

Drop trap with cover and extra stick

Patty is not afraid!

Here, Patty models how it works

Sammy says with this look, "You'll never catch me, copper!"

The game is on!  Drop trap in place, ready for Sammy to enter.  He hasn't yet, even though Patty and Mama Mia have.  It's only been 1-1/2 days, so patience, Grasshopper!  The extra stick is to give the contraption stability, since the pull stick is designed to move easily, and not be a table leg.  We screwed the trap to the top of the feeding station (read:  old picnic table).  A length of landscaping fabric is stapled to the top to further mimic the usual awning (read: old card table). As Sammy begins to drop his guard, I'll remove the extra stick, then wait for the opportunity when he is inside.  If another cat is in there too, then all will get a trip to the vet, but shhhh...don't tell the hubby; he doesn't know that part!

Sammy is constantly drooling, and has food and dirt stuck to his face fur.  He is wary of this new thing, and hasn't gone inside of it.  The theory is: Sammy goes in to eat, after he's lost his trap fear (he's a smart cookie, my Sammy is!), and we yank the string, the stick pulls out, dropping the trap around Sammy.  Either a cat carrier or metal trap is placed at the door (see it on top?), and the cat will voluntarily walk into the smaller space.  Then, I call the vet!  Hubby and I have set up a holding area in the garage, should need be, with tarp and blankets.

For now, we wait...Where did I put my pith helmet?

Lazy

Chucky on the chair

Patty playing Sphinx

Lolling Mia

Angel up on her perch

Neighbor cat Aries 

All the cats are lazin' around these days.  Chucky has staked out an old chair covered in my long sweater.  Hey, I wear that, Chuck...and I want it back!...someday.  Patty goes wherever I am, and he prefers to be the one in front of the camera, but he allowed me to shoot Mia lolling on the deck one hot afternoon.  Angel sleeps on the top of a book case, which we call her 'perch'.  And Aries belongs to our backyard neighbor's, but she loves our yard; she filches bits of food, and often sleeps on the deck.  However, she has a hissy disposition, and will pick fights so we try not to encourage her much.

And look at this!  We primed the Cat Hotel, then gave it a good coat of house paint.  So now it blends nicely to our house, but it looks like a tank!  The Cat Tank.  We will paint the top and bottom floor verandas, and probably add some more doodads and such, before we move the whole ball of wax into it's intended location closer to the back door.  Of course, I was worried that the 'o' cats might shun the thing, since it smells like paint.  Lo and behold, Mia came right out of it this afternoon when I set out the food bowls.  Gosh, cats just simply amaze me.